John,I have been thinking about you a lot recently and I suppose that isn't much of a shock to you. I decided that I wanted to write you a letter because there are a million things that I would love to say but only one really comes to mind right now... thank you!Thank you for being an influential person in my life. What?!? You didn't know that? Well, you have been. Your acceptance of me for being nothing more than just me has forever changed who I am. It is like you didn't care about my past but cared more for my future. You accepted me as I am. You spoke to me in ways that were truthful but loving at the same time. You would engage me in discussion and you seemed to genuinely want to know what I thought. I was always a bit threatened by that though. You're a very intelligent man and I didn't want to say something stupid. Still, you always seemed to encourage the discussion and I could tell that you actually appreciated the exchange of ideas that we would have.

Thank you for being such a joyful person. When I think of our encounters, I always remember hearing you laugh, but with me and not at me. You didn't tease me or belittle me just to get a laugh from your "audience." Rather, you would laugh a real laugh. I really like that I didn't necessarily have to tell you a joke to get you to laugh either. I wish I could do more of that. Your smile seemed to be a permanent fixture on you; like something that was etched onto your face from years of practice. I want to pick the right types of lines for my face and I think you did a good job picking yours.

Thank you for being an inspirational person in my life. You inspired me to be more than what I am; more than what I was. You showed me that I can achieve anything. Through your thirst for knowledge, I desired to have that same thirst and I desired that same hunger for knowledge that you had. You seemed to look at life in a way that enabled you to have the freedom to become anything that you wanted to become. And, if that wasn't cool enough, your inspiration told me that I could actually change directions in life, take risks and still be a joyful influence to encourage others to take risks as well.

Now that your biography has been written and the last period in the novel of your life has been firmly jotted, I say thank you. Thank you for showing me that when we become nothing more than a shell that our lives can be so much more than two dates with a dash in between. I want to be more than a couple of dates, John. Your life pointed me to so many wonderful things- art, literature, kindness, joy, music, knowledge. I want my life to point to something too, John. When people look through the pages of my life novel, I want my life to point to Jesus. I want people to see Jesus in me in such a way that it inspires them to want to know Jesus also.

As I close this letter, please know that I hold you in high regard and think of you with absolute respect. You are one of the people in my life that have been influential in shaping who I am and for that I am eternally grateful. But more than that, your life has modeled for me how we shape the lives of those around us by our actions and by our words.

Thank you for the privilege of knowing you. I am a better person because of it.

I have had the privilege of getting a sneak peak preview of John Burke's newest book due out this fall and I would definitely recommend giving it a read. The book is smartly titled Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended. I have only been able to read the intro, Chapter One and Chapter Three (that's all I am allowed to read) but the application of what I have read has made an impact on me. Isn't that what life is all about anyway... living out what we learn?

So here it is. Live life with God in 60 minute intervals for 60 days, known as the 60-60 experiment. I decided a week ago to give this a shot. After all, it seemed to line up with my own convictions of an active prayer life. It started kinda small, ya' know? Every hour on the hour I would pray a small prayer about something relevant to me at that moment. Most of those first prayers only lasted 30 seconds at best. I chose a handful of topics ahead of time too so that as I prayed I would have certain areas of my life starting to get infused with constant prayer.

One of those very specific areas is purity. I listened to a podcast recently from Mosaic about Pornography addiction (listen here) and that got me thinking. Could I ever become that guy? I have known guys that have struggled with this. I have driven by countless strip clubs in my travels. So what can I do to prevent this type of thing from happening to me? Jesus said that the pure in heart will see God and I thought that would be the best way to start this little experiment. Seek purity in thought, word and action. Now, purity is more than just Porn or lust, even though I think this is probably associated with purity the most. For example, if I decide to swear at someone in my mind but do not verbalize it, is my thought life pure? If I have not forgiven someone, is my heart pure? If I decide to sarcastically joke with someone, are my intentions pure? See, purity is more than sexual and that is why I am praying for purity.

So here is where I am today. After a week into this deal, I have become very aware of time and its like I say to myself, "Hey, it's time to pray." This is the first change that I have witnessed. I now have an awareness of talking to God consistently throughout the day. If I don't have something pressing at the moment, I pray for purity. I do not have a canned prayer that I use. I start a conversation with God that tells him what I have on my heart at that moment. Heck, there have been times that I have said stuff like, "God, I really don't like so & so, please help me love them like you do" or "God, I am really struggling right now with making a decision, please help me" or "God, thank you for time alone with you." You get the picture. I do not need to wax eloquently; just tell God what's on my heart at that moment.

Armadillos are funny creatures. I have yet to see one alive but have seen plenty of them dead alongside of the road. After seeing the splattered remains of an armadillo the other day, I got to thinking about nocturnal animals like the armadillo and opossum and realized that I have shared a similar characteristic with these animals. Awareness.

Armadillos are mostly nocturnal and eat grubs, insects, beetles and plenty of other disgusting stuff... yuck! Armadillos are very adept diggers and use their claws to unearth these delicacies. The grubs and beetles feast on roots, leaves and bark for the most part. Stay with me on this one. The plant roots and leaves that the grubs and beetles eat are obviously not nocturnal and rely on the sun to provide them with light. (I just got the "Circle of Life" song from The Lion King going through my head just now.)

What's the point? The armadillos live at night in darkness but ultimately rely on light from the sun to live. I am sure that the armadillos are not aware of their dependency on the light but that does not mean that they can live without it. They just aren't aware that their life comes from the sun.

I was once an armadillo. For seven years, I chose to live my life in darkness and to feast on all that the earth had to offer. I consumed everything that I could and had my fill. Even though I made this choice to live in darkness, the Son was still at work giving me life. Just because I chose to ignore the Light and chose my own version of reality didn't mean that the Son didn't exist. My awareness changed. I changed. The Son did not.

Jesus once told His followers that they were the "light of the world." Jesus taught them that some people love darkness SO much that they would rather choose to live in the darkness rather than the light. Why do you think that is? For me, I wanted what I wanted and this led me to experiencing everything... except freedom. I became a slave to bad habits. I made poor choices. Then I cried out to God to fix the mess that I had made.Here's the good news... since God is never far from any of us, He was right next to me when I decided that I had had enough. Jesus said that if we seek Him then we will find Him. I know that is true. When I began to seek Him I started to discover how He had been with me the whole time and my awareness of His presence in my life changed. I chose to live for Him and began to change on the inside... slowly.

\mis-ˈtir-ē-əs\ having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence (source); beyond ordinary understanding; exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify; stirred by or attracted to the inexplicable (source).

Have you ever had something happen to you that you could only describe as outside of the ordinary? Have you ever felt something so strongly that you were certain that it was real? Have you ever had a dream come true, literally?

Some call these things ESP (extrasensory perception); others call it deja vu; some call it weird. As a follower of Jesus, I believe in that which I do not see and we call this Faith. The truth of the matter is that we all have faith in something or someone.

If you do not think that we all have faith, then ask yourself how it is that scientists can teach theories with such confidence?This requires the scientist to believe that based on their tested experiments that their conclusion is the best possible explanation for what they have seen or witnessed. Sound familiar?They call this the scientific method.In other words, they have faith in their study of what they can see, touch, examine, test and retest within the physical realm.What happens when something exists outside of the physical realm?What do we do about that?Well, if it can’t be reproduced and tested then it is not science nor provable by science.So we must have faith that it is true.

Let me take this a bit deeper.Light exists.We all see because of light and we can study the properties and characteristics of light.We cannot measure darkness.We can only measure how much light is not present.This sounds silly, but it is true.Furthermore, light travels at the speed of light.Anything that travels at the speed of light is believed to exist outside of time.Meaning, if we travel at the speed of light time no longer has an affect on us.Mysterious, huh?Since no one has ever traveled at the speed of light, we must believe that this is true and that requires us to have faith in the best possible explanation based on what we have witnessed.

Paul, another guy covered in dust, journeyed to other countries to tell the people there about Jesus.He wrote letters to the Christ-followers that he left behind in the towns that he visited.In one letter, he tells these Jesus-believers that their enemy is not each other nor the government nor the liberals nor the conservatives nor Osama Bin Laden.No.He tells them that their enemy is not flesh and blood but something else.They are fighting an enemy that is unseen and that moves in direct opposition to God and Jesus.In fact, this enemy sometimes looks like something good but really isn’t.Now that’s tricky!

I can honestly tell you that I have seen the enemy’s forces with my own eyes.I have had dreams come true with exact clarity and precision.I have experienced situations that seem absolutely crazy to describe.I have experienced things in this life that science cannot explain but does that make you believe me?I can give you my theories and observations based on what I have witnessed but it first requires a small step of faith to believe that the unseen is real; to believe in the mysterious.

I love that about following Jesus!He leads me to places that I never imagined possible; a life full of intrigue, wonder and excitement.I don’t know about you but I need to have a God that is beyond what I can imagine; that is more that what I can explain.This reminds me of my son who is 21 months old.Every day he wakes up to new experiences and there are mysteries around every corner.His life is a non-stop joyride of adventure!So I am following Jesus because I believe that His way is the best possible way to live and I am listening for His voice to guide me to new, mysterious adventures.

I discovered this discipline or habit a while ago and I have used it many times in my journey. Quite honestly, I can't remember when this really started for me, but I do know that it works. When I have recommended this to others it is usually because they have asked for help in a very difficult situation to which they do not have a solution. Many times they, just like me, get put into situations or conversations that are hard to navigate. Are you with me on this?

Have you ever been in a situation or conversation that is difficult and you weren't sure what to do in that moment? Have you ever felt stuck or tongue tied in a conversation or just needed some comfort in tough times?

Here is what I do... pray in the moment. Yeah, that's it. Pray in that exact moment.

It's not a groundbreaking new discovery but this simple principle can be put into practice in ALL situations where you are seeking a God-honoring outcome... seriously! Fighting with your mom... pray in the moment. Arguing with your spouse... pray in the moment. Mad at your boss... pray in the moment. Making a difficult decision... pray in the moment. Tempted to do something you shouldn't do... pray in the moment. You get the idea.

I am not guaranteeing that this will save you from the difficult situation nor do I think that the results of this "In the moment prayer" will be immediately evident. After all, sometimes we make up our minds ahead of time of how we will act/ react and we pray in the moment as kind of a "bail me out"- thing. I know. I've done that too. However, humbly asking the all powerful, all knowing God of the universe to step into that moment with you in your exact time of need could seriously help when you are trying to pursue God's will for that situation and I can't think of anything better, can you?

Have you ever thought that prayer seems to be a bit of a funny thing? I mean, most of the time we talk (out loud even) to Someone we can't see. Now that I put it that way it does seem a bit weird, huh? I am learning some new truths about prayer that I have never experienced before. However, the thing about prayer is that a lot of world religions do it. I am not a world religion expert but I do know that Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists all pray.

Prayer is a conduit, a connection, a pathway. It is a conversation with an ebb and flow that continually connects us to a real, living God.

Now this is where my newly discovered truth starts. A lot of how I pray involves my talking to God (I am sure I am not alone on this one). In fact, I am glad that God is a good listener because I know I don't much like being talked to in a "conversation." I like it better when there is an exchange of ideas, words, dreams. I don't like when a "conversation" is simply one person just appeasing another by standing there waiting so that they can tell you their next idea (and sometimes even before you finish your thought). Yuck!

Since I am off on a tangent, can I just express my disgust for "canned prayers" too? Can I just be honest with you about this? Prayers that just spout off a bunch of words that we memorized when we first came to our faith in God are nothing more that chants. In fact, I come across this type of thing a lot. Heck, books are even published with "canned prayers." Great! Learn the methodology on how to pray but please, please move on to a more heart-felt exchange. God did not create us to be a bunch of mindless, heartless robots that spew a bunch of rehearsed words at Him. While there is nothing inherently wrong with chanting canned prayers, it is a distraction to the power that lies in true, connected, heart-felt prayer. These canned prayers are a starting point but sadly most of us never progress further. It's like we started eating rice cereal as an infant believer and 30 years later we are still eating rice cereal as a "mature" believer. I digress.

I am discovering that in order for me to be in constant prayer, I need to shut up and let God start talking to me. I know. Novel idea, huh? That means that I need to be quiet and listen for God's voice. Here's the cool part. When we do this... God actually speaks to us. I have heard His voice; a small whisper that when you hear it you know it's God. I know, weird. But if you listen for His voice and seek Him, you will hear his voice. I don't know how God will speak to you but I do know that He will respond if you are listening.

The funny thing is that God is speaking to us everyday but the more we choose to follow our way and choose our busyness and follow our own entertainment, the less we hear His voice. God has not stopped talking, we have stopped listening. Can you remember the last time you heard nothing? I mean nothing. No sound. No white noise. No traffic in the background. Nothing. Me neither. There is always something fighting for our attention. We need to be diligent in this prayerful practice of being quiet before the Creator, Father God of the universe because He is up to something in this world and He wants us to be a part of it. Are you listening?